ABSTRACT
Ail student teachers as they begin their training bring with them a wealth of ideas about teaching and learning – ideas significantly influenced by their own experience of education. Their beliefs and expectations will determine their priorities and influence what they consider they will need to learn. They will also be bringing into school ideas from other sources: university/college tutors, reading about educational research and national developments, fellow students.
To gain as much as possible from their time in school, student teachers need to be made aware of the ideas they hold about teaching – wherever they have come from – and be given opportunities to discuss and critically evaluate them. In helping student teachers learn to teach, you therefore need to encourage them to articulate their ideas, both in general terms and as they relate to specific lessons. You can then help student teachers begin to question these ideas, seeking to establish through discussion, as well as observation and practice, whether they are helpful or valid.
